At the Arts Club Granville Island Stage until March 15, 2014
Is it my imagination or has Nicola Lipman been portraying quirky little old ladies since the beginning of time? It’s not a complaint – she’s wonderful at it: shuffling walk, shrunken posture, quavering voice. No one delivers such perfectly timed, snarky lines like Lipman.
John Campbell as Hoke and Nicola Lipman as Miss Daisy in Driving Miss Daisy. Credit: David Cooper
At Presentation House until February 23, 2014 (Port Moody's Inlet Theatre March 6-8)
You’d better not mind looking at a lot of lovely young flesh because this NeverYouMind production puts a lot of it out there. Taking it off is what A Particular Class of Women is all about and the sheer enthusiasm of these eight actors was enough to get the opening night crowd hooting and hollering.
Lauren A. Campbell, Lisa-Marie Marrelli and Flora Karas in A Particular Class of Women.
Credit: Joel Dufresne
Arts Club on Tour until March 15, 2014
One acoustic guitar, two electric guitars, one violin, one cello, three kazoos, one banjo, one ukulele, one bass, one accordion, one keyboard and a set of drums. Six performers.
Rachel Aberle, Marlene Ginader and Lauren Bowler in The Chelsea Hotel
At The Shop Theatre (125 East 2nd) until March 1, 2014
Oh, I get it now. Blood, guts and gore can be hilarious. I never realized that before so I’ve just stayed away from horror flicks for years.
Jay Clift as Peter in BUG. Credit: Matt Reznek
At the Jericho Arts Centre until February 16, 2014
Act 1 of Lee Hall’s The Pitmen Painters is a gem: intelligent, relevant, provocative, political and funny; eighty minutes flies by.
Paul Herbert, Michael Wild and John Prowse in The Pitmen Painters. Credit: Doug Williams
At Telus Studio Theatre (UBC) until February 8, 2014
Anton Chekhov subtitled The Seagull “A Comedy in Four Acts” but the great Russian playwright has been hard pressed to convince audiences – spanning more than a hundred years – that this play is funny.
Mercedes de la Zerda and Thomas Elms in The Seagull. Credit: Tim Matheson
At The Cultch until February 8, 2014
With a name like his, Mani Soleymanlou is always going to have people mangle the pronunciation and ask where he’s from. Well, Soleymanlou is from Montreal. But is he – really? That’s the question he asks himself.
Mani Soleymanlou in ONE. Credit: Productions Lombric
At The Roundhouse. No more performances.
What we usually hear about Pond Inlet, Nunavut, is bad news: poverty, shamefully inadequate health care and housing, substance abuse and suicide. What we heard in Night (five performances only) was a story told in the Inuktitut language: soft and lyrical, full of ‘u’s, ‘q’s, ‘t’s and ‘l’s.
Photo credit: Chris Gallow
At SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts until January 25, 2014
At the heart of Larry Tremblay’s 1995 play is an event that might have been a murder or just a tragic accident. Unfortunately, this central issue doesn’t surface until three-quarters of the way through the play.
Photo credit: Danny Taillon
At the Arts Club Revue Stage until February 8, 2014
“Asha, Asha, we all fall down” – laughing, that is. Like a plump, benevolent Buddha (although Jain is her religion), Asha Jain sits with her hands in the lap of her bright pink sari and beams across the table at her son Ravi.
Asha Jain in A Brimful of Asha. Credit: Erin Brubacher